Shimano or Avid brakes for Yeti ARC ?

I am building a Yeti ARC hardtail that will be used for some general trail riding and cross country racing and X-terra type off-road triathlons - XT group, Fox float 32 RLC fork, Mavic SL wheels, Thomson post and stem, WTB Rocket seat ... I have the option to use either Shimano 2010 M775 brakes or some 2009 Avid Juicy Ultimate brakes. I have some M775 XT brakes on my Trek EX-9 and like them. I have the good fortune to have access to the 2 brake sets. What do you think - the Shimano or Avid brakes? Does anyone have experience or informed opinion with both these brakes?

I'd go with the shimano. I have a hard time coming up with a polite adjective to describe those avid brakes. About the only thing I can see they have going for them is every bike shop in the world is a dealer, also true of shimano.

Thanks Joules. Leaning toward the XT's. I have them installed on another bike and they have been good, on which I had Avid R's previously that failed. I think I was seduced by the carbon levers on the Juicy's.

My '11 avid elixir 5's are nice when there is no air in the system. I wouldn't recommend them at all. Although, I read that Avid spend some considerable time developing/refining their Elixir 7 and 9's for 2012. Apparently they have made some tweaks to better their performance and have removed some of the issues they have been notorious of having (eg. air in line). Something to consider if your a Sram/Avid fan in general.

I tested the XT's on my Yeti ARC tonight and the brakes feel great, although on my Trek EX-9 I have the same brakes and a 180mm front rotor compared with the 160mm front rotor on the Yeti ARC, and the stopping power on the Trek with the larger front rotor is much greater.